Delivery mechanism



June 23, 1931. E. F. DUDLEY DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed June 15, 1928 frzuew= M Patented June 23, 1931 A 1 UNITED ,srAres ATENT o1=1=1c1z nnwAnco 11'. DUDLEY, or. OAK PARK, rumors, Assrenon To run umrrnn rnnrrma rnnss a MANUFACTURING comm, or; CHICAGO, rumors, A conrom'rrozr OI ILLINOIS DELIVERY MECHANISM Application filed June 15,

This invention relates to delivery mechanism for printing presses or other machinery where sheets, f after having been printed, 1 or after having been subjected to any other ered onto sheet receiving means in an even" stack, thereby eliminating the necessity of any manual straightening out of the delivered sheets.

It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide improved sheet delivery mechanism for printin presses and the like, wherein the travel of t e sheet, after having left the rinting couple, will be slowed up so that t e sheets w1ll be conveyed to the deliezpry table at a relatively low rate of Another object of the invention resides in the provision of means whereby, during part of the travel of the sheets from the printing couple to the delivery table, the movement of the sheets is pneumaticall controlled.

Other objects and novel eatures of the invention will be a parent from the following) description an appended claims.

ne preferred form of the improved delive mechanism forming the subject of. my invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of the general arrangement of the cooperating parts, whereby the objects of the invention are accomplished; Figure 2 illustrates a view of the control mechanism showing the arrangement of the pneumatic means in elevation whereby the sheets as they are being delivered are controlled during part oft eir travel'tothe de livery table;'and v Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 2. r While it will be readily understood that the-improved delivery mechanism is subject 1928. Serial 110. 285,616.

to modifications and can be applied to any tiype of sheet'handling machmery without eparting from the principle of the inventlon, I have illustrated it by way of example in conjunction with a flat bed press having an impression cylinder 10 mounted in any suitable manner on the machine frame 11 of the press.

The means whereby sheets 12 are conveged to the delivery table or board 13 prefera comprises a chain delivery mechanism having one or more sheet engaging grippers 14 cooperatmg with cylinder grippers 15, and mounted on endless chains 16, continuously driven during the operation of the press at the surface speed of the impression cylinder 10 by means of sprockets 17. In order to accommodate the chain delivery grippers to any thickness of stock within given limits. I preferably mount said grippers resiliently, thereby eliminating an adjustment of the grippers that might ot erwise be necessary to accommodate various thicknesses of stock. The sprockets 17 are preferably in mesh with the usual cylinder gear, not illustrated. i 7 7 By means of this chain delivery mechanism, the sheets, after having been transferred from the cylinder grippers, are

dropped onto a series of delivery tapes 18, which are actuated by the operating mechanism of the press to travel at a speed considerably. slower than that of the chain delivery grippers 15, i. e. of the surface speed of the cylinder 10.

Figure 1 shows the cooperating parts of the delivery mechanism in a position where a sheet 12 hasjust been dropped onto the delivery tapes 18 whereby they are slowly advanced towards stop fingers 19 mounted on the rock shaft 20. At the moment when the leading edge of the sheet 12 reaches the plate121, the stops 22, provided on the fingers 19, extend below the surface of saidplate to arrest the forward movement of the sheet 12." The ,fingers19 are actuated in any .de-'

sired manner such as by cam means operated b the drivlng mechanism of the press. As illustrated in Figure 2, the plate-21 is formedwith one or 'more air ve ts 23 preferably connected by means of a tube 24 with a vacuum valve 25 communicating in any suitable manner with a vacuum pump not shown.

Vacuum is applied to the valve 25 so that when the leadlng edge of a sheet reaches plate 21 Where it will cover the air vents 23. the sheet will be held against further movement until the valve 25 is operated to cut off the suction through the tube 24.

Referring again to Figure 1, I have inclicated means of a well-known construction for conveying the sheets from the plate 21 to the delivery table 13. Said means comprises oscillating arms 26 pivoted at 27 to swing to and fro between the position indicated in broken lines and the position indicated in full lines. The arms 26 carry at their outer ends one or more delivery grippers 28 as well as a cam roller 29, which latter is adapted to ride over the surface 30 of a cam 31. When the cam 31 is in its position shown in Figure 2, with the roller 29, positioned as indicated in broken lines, the valve 25 will be closed so that air will not be withdrawn through the vents 23 and pipe 24. I

This is the position of the parts at the time when a sheet is engaged for being withrawn from the plate 21 by the delivery grippers 28. As soon as the roller 29 is moved out of engagement with the cam surface 30, the valve 25 will again be opened and the next sheet advanced to the plate 21 will again be held by means of the vacuum applied by the air vents 23.

The valve 25 could be opened merely by the gravity of the cam 31, but in order to assure the proper operation of the valve, a compression spring 32 is preferably provided as shown in Figure 2.

It will be readily understood that at the moment the sheets are delivered onto the delivery table 13 by the grippers 28, the latter have almost come to a complete stop and consequently the sheets as they reach the stripper fingers 33, travel at an exceedingly low speed thereby avoiding any buckling of the sheets and any irregularities in the pile of delivered sheets.

I claim:

1. In a delivery mechanism for printing presses and'the like, the combination of a sheet carrier operative to remove a sheet from a cylinder of the press at cylinder speed, oscillating delivery means, and means continually moving at a slower speed than said carrier and adapted to receive a sheet therefrom and advance it towards said delivery means.

2. In delivery mechanism for printing presses and the like, the combination of a chain delivery having means to remove a sheet from a cylinder, oscillating delivery means, and a series of delivery tapes moving continually at a slower speed than said chain delivery and ada ted to receive a sheet therefrom and a Vance it towards said delivery means.

3. In delivery mechanism for printin presses and the like, the combination 0 a sheet carrier, means moving at a slower speed than said carrier and adapted to receive a sheet therefrom, sheet retaining means, a delivery table, and means to remove a sheet from said retaining means and deposit it onto said delivery table.

4. In delivery mechanism for printing presses and the like, the combination of a sheet carrier, means moving at a slower speed than said carrier and adapted to receive a sheet therefrom and convey it to sheet retaining means, a delivery table, and means operatively associated with said retaining means to render it inoperative and to remove a sheet therefrom and deposit it onto said delivery table.

5. In delivery mechanism for rinting presses and the like, the combinatlon of a sheet carrier, means moving at a slower speed than said carrier and adapted to receive a sheet therefrom, pneumatic means associated therewith, whereby sheets may be retained, a delivery table, and means operatively associated with said pneumatic means to render it inoperative and to remove a sheet therefrom and deposit it onto said delivery table.

6. In delivery mechanism for printing presses and the like, the combination of a sheet carrier, means moving at a slower speed than said carrier and adapted to receive a sheet therefrom, pneumatic means associated therewith, whereby sheets may be retained, a delivery table, and means operatively associated with said pneumatic means to render it inoperative and to remove a sheet therefrom and deposit it onto said delivery table at a speed slower than the cylinder speed of the press.

7. In deliver mechanism for printing presses, the comhination of a sheet conveyor,

and pneumatic means associated therewith whereby sheets are held against movement, and means for intermittently rendering said pneumatic means inoperative.

8. In delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a sheet conveyor, pneumatic means associated therewith whereby sheets are held against movement, means for rendering said pneumatic means inoperative, and means for withdrawing sheets therefrom.

9. In delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a sheet conveyor, pneumatic means associated therewith whereby sheets are held against movement, and additional means cooperating with said pneumatic means for assisting in holding said sheet. 

